


Flying

by Tacuma



Series: 50 First Meetings [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Medieval, Romance, Tony is a prince, non-powered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:45:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tacuma/pseuds/Tacuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten year old Tony wants to fly so badly, that he is about to jump off the high walls of the castle. A little boy in his garden stops him and they become friends as they try to find a way to touch the clouds together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flying

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta-ed, since nobody wants to beta for me :( Sorry if there are any mistakes!

Ten-year old Tony Stark stood on the walls of the castle, his arms spread wide. Something that looked like paper wings were attached to his wrists, elbows and shoulders. He looked down and gulped. It was pretty high, but he had to do this if he wanted to fly. He dook a deep breath and was about to jump when he heard a voice.

'Don't jump, you'll hurt yourself!'

It was a soft voice, not like the harsh voices of the guards or the angry voice of his father. Tony looked around, but he didn't see anyone.

'Down here,' the voice spoke again. 'Don't jump, it's dangerous!'

Tony looked down and noticed a boy with golden hair standing in the garden. He was looking up at Tony with bright blue eyes, looking scared. Tony frowned. Nobody was supposed to enter the gardens, except the royal family. How did this boy get there? Why hadn't the guards stopped him?

'Wait there,' Tony said before he ran down the stairs, through the halls, and into the gardens. The boy hadn't moved.

'Hi!' the young prince greeted the mysterious boy. He was pretty small and rather thin. 'You’re not really allowed in here. How did you even get in?'

'I walked,' the boy answered simply. 'I come from over the hills. Are you trying to fly? Do you have magic?' You don't look like you have magic.'

'I don't have magic,' Tony confessed. 'But I want to fly. It looks so cool! Like birds and dragons! I want to touch the clouds!'

'Sounds really cool,' the boy grinned. 'But my mom said you can only fly with magic. You would have fallen if you had jumped from the wall.'

'I think I need bigger wings. With these I will fall,' Tony agreed. 'And I have to practice on the hills. I'll run down the hill and the wind will lift me up in the sky and I'll be flying! You'll see! Maybe I should put a rope on the wings, like a kite. Do you wanna help? You can hold the rope and we'll run together! I gotta make new wings first, so it will take a few days. Will you come back? To hold the rope?'

'Yeah, sure!' the boy said, a bright smile on his face. 'I'll help!'

'Great!' Tony cheered. He never had a friend before. 'I have no classes on Saturday. You should come then, we'll go to the hills and try! My name is Tony.'

'I'm Steve,' the small boy smiled. 'See you Saturday!'

~

That Saturday they met again. Tony had made a pair of really big wings for himself. He was pretty confident that these would work. Steve looked impressed as well. He carefully touched the wings. They were made of paper, like the first ones, but these looked stronger. Tony handed Steve the rope that was tied around his chest.

'I run and you'll follow?' Steve asked as he looked at the rope in his hands. 'Until you're in the air?'

'Hold the rope, even when I'm in the air!' Tony ordered. 'What if I can't come back down again? You'll have to help me.'

They ran and ran and ran as fast as they could. Steve held the rope tightly and Tony flapped his arms. He jumped, flapped his arms harder, and fell on his face on the ground. Steve quickly came running back to see if his friend was alright, but Tony didn’t let the bruises stop him. The entire afternoon they ran up and down the hill. Tony didn't fly at all, but they had a lot of fun. They even changed places, to try if they could make Steve fly, but that didn't work either.

'We need magic,' Steve said, as they sat down in the grass, tired from all the running.

'We need feathers!' Tony said. 'A whole bunch of feathers. If we can make wings with feathers I'm sure I can fly! Pick up every feather you find, okay?'

Steve agreed. Since it was getting dark, they both went their separate ways, Steve over the hill and Tony back to the castle. The next weeks Tony went outside whenever he had a free moment. He walked into the woods when the guards weren't watching and searched for feathers that were lying around. For days he searched, only to end up with a few dozens. Not nearly enough for his big plans.

Still Tony didn’t give up and started with the construction of the wings. He formed the outlines, making sure he could attach feathers everywhere, so there wouldn't be any holes. He made the wings big, really big, with several leather bands he could tie around his arms. Proudly he looked at his own work. He might be ten, but he was a smart boy, his teachers told him so very often.

But he could only fill a small part of the construction with feathers. It looked disappointing and Tony frantically searched for more, but with no succes. He could only hope that Steve would have more luck.

Tony waited for his friend on the hill the next week and wasn't disappointed. Steve showed up with two big bags full of feathers. They all looked perfect, undamaged, ready to use in Tony's wings.

'Where did you get all of these?' Tony asked, happily surprised. 'I could only find a few!'

'A few of my neighbors have chickens,' Steve grinned. 'They let me have the feathers. I hope this will help you!'

'Yes, it helps a lot!' Tony smiled happily. He showed the construction and together they bound the feathers to the wooden frame. There were so many feather that it took them three days to attach them all. But when they were done, they looked amazing. Tony had a hard time waiting for Saturday to come around again. When it was finally the weekend again, the young prince woke up early and hurried to the hill. Steve was already waiting for him.

‘Ready to fly?’ Steve asked.

‘Yes! If it works, you can go too!’ Tony said happily.

The construction didn't work. Tony tried to run down the hill, he tried jumping of a meter high wall, he tried jumping out of a tree, he tried everything, for hour and hours, but nothing worked. Once again they tried with Steve, but the wings were too heavy for him and he had a hard time lifting up his arms.

'You can't fly without magic,' Steve sighed after he had fallen on his knees. They both had scratches and bruises everywhere.

'This doesn't work,' Tony said, not sad at all. 'But I have hundreds of other ideas! Let's play again next week. I'll bring paper and pencils and we'll draw the new ideas!'

~

For years they met each other on the hill to create new ways to fly. As they grew older their ideas got better. They looked at dead birds to see how their wings worked and tried to recreate them. They tried to copy everything, but it just wasn’t the same on humans.

Then Tony tried one big wing-like piece of cloth. They built a construction where the wind would go under the wing, pushing it up in the sky. Tony made a metal frame he could hold, making sure he stayed under the wing as well. At the first try the cloth ripped. They made a stronger version that broke apart, and a third version that refused to go up in the sky.

Steve insisted that only magic could make him fly, but Tony didn't want to admit that he would never touch the clouds. He was not going to give up.

Next they took a piece of cloth and made a parachute-like construction. They tried what would happen if they tied a rock to it. They threw it from the top of a tree. Thankfully Tony hadn't tried it himself, because the rock fell on the ground with a loud thud. Steve and Tony changed the construction, but the next tests were as successful as the first one. The cloth was never strong enough to carry the weight of Tony's body. And as the years passed by, they couldn't try with Steve anymore either, because he was slowly growing taller and bigger than his royal friend.

When the parachute didn't work they tried changing it into a balloon-like shape. At first they couldn't get air inside it, but Tony found a way to fix that. Cold air didn't do the job though, and they didn't know how to get hot air in the balloon once it was a few meters up in the air. The hot air escaped and the balloon came crashing down again. It was really frustrating.

Tony's last idea, he was eighteen by then, was a big wing like construction made of wood. It was a bit like the thing he made when he was ten, but with a few changes. This construction was way bigger than Tony was and there were several layers, so the air could go right through and lift it up in the air. For a few moments it seemed like it would work, everything went according to plan. Tony was lifted up slightly, but then the wind pushed him over and Tony crashed down, falling flat on his face, breaking the wings, and probably his nose.

Steve held Tony in his arms for almost an hour, trying to stop his nosebleed, checking if he damaged his teeth, and cleaning his cuts. Tony looked terrible, but he'd heal, eventually. He was used to it by now, but it hurt a little when he walked. Steve hid the broken wings before he brought Tony back to the castle.

'Hey, Tony,' Steve said, hiding behind the bushes as Tony walked to the door. Tony stopped and turned to his secret friend. 'You need magic to fly.'

Tony smiled, but winced, because his cut lip hurt. 'It seems you're right.'

~

'Anthony, you're eighteen now,' the king spoke. 'You're too old and too smart to spend all your time outside, doing whatever you're doing out there. It's time to grow up. Starting next week you'll take over a few of my jobs and we have found a perfect girl for you. You two will marry next year. She'll be here to meet you next Saturday.'

'What? I don't get to chose myself?' Tony asked, anger bubbling up inside him. 'I'm not done studying yet. There is so much more to learn and to do! I'm not getting married yet.'

'There is no room for discussion. Make sure you look presentable Saturday. Cover up those bruises and shave that stupid beard off!'

'Drop dead!' Tony shouted as he ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

~

Tony lay on his back in the soft grass, longingly staring at the blue sky. So beautiful, but so far away and forever unreachable.

'Weren't you supposed to meet your fiancee today?' Steve asked, after he lay down on the grass on his stomach, chin resting on his hands.

'Yeah, but I escaped,' Tony sighed.

'Do you believe magic can make you fly?' Steve asked, peeking at the sky.

'I tried everything I could. Nothing else could make me fly. I'm sure magic is the only way, but I don't know anyone with magic. I'll never fly.'

'You do know someone with magic,' Steve smiled as he stood up.

Suddenly there was a bright light surrounding Steve. Tony shielded his eyes and for a few seconds he couldn't see anything. When he opened them again Steve was gone and there stood a big golden dragon in his place. Tony's eyes widened. Slowly he got up and touched the scales. It wasn't an illusion, it was real.

'Steve?' Tony asked

The dragon nodded and pushed his nose against Tony's shoulder. Tony carefully stroked the nose and head. He had seen dragons before, flying over the mountains, but never up close. Now he was touching one! His best friend, his only friend, was a dragon!

'Can you talk?' Tony asked. 'I have so many questions!'

Steve shook his head before he pulled away from Tony's hands. In seconds the dragon turned into a familiar, tall, blond, human again.

'Dragons can't talk,' Steve said. 'Something about vocal chords and fire breathing that doesn't go well together. I don't know the details either. Did I scare you?'

'Not at all!' Tony said excited. 'You're a dragon, you can fly, that is amazing! Why didn't you tell me before? It would have saved us all the trouble of making wings and it would have spared us a lot of pain. My jaw still hurts from last time!'

'I'm sorry,' Steve said, carefully touching the painful jaw. With that simple touch the pain was gone. 'I didn't know what your parents told you about dragons. Maybe you hated them as well, I couldn't risk getting killed. I needed you to trust me. To show you dragons aren't bad.'

'My parents hate dragons?' Tony asked, not sure what to think.

'Let's go for a walk,' Steve suggested, and they started walking. 'They might have seen the light at the castle. I don't want them to come after me again.  Do you know about the history of dragons and the royal family?'

'No, my old man always insisted that dragons didn't exist, even though I could see them. He insisted it were illusions,' Tony sighed.

'I could have known,' Steve answered. 'Well, hundreds of years ago the royal family saved the dragons from civilians who tried to kill them, for eating their cattle. They made agreements: the dragons protect the lands in exchange for food. But they made a special arrangement with the royal family. Every prince or princess would get their own guarding dragon, one that is born in the same year as the child.'

'Are you mine?' Tony asked surprised. 'Are you my guardian dragon?'

'Yes, I was born in the same year, there were only a few, so I was assigned to you.'

'Does my old man have one? I've never seen one, or is he disguised as well?' Tony asked. He had a hundred questions, he didn't understand at all. Why did he never hear about this? Is this why his father wanted him to stop studying?

'Your mother was a princess,' Steve started his explanation. 'The king became royalty by marrying her. I only know what my mom told me, but she said he wanted power and married the princess because of that reason alone. He became a prince, but when he didn't get his personal dragon he was angry. Also because, apparently, your mother and her dragon were great friends, maybe even lovers, I'm not sure. He killed the dragon when he was in his human form. Your mother was devastated, the dragons were furious. When the dragons came to talk about it, your father attacked them. The dragons didn't want to give up the bond with the humans, so they sent me. Not as a baby, your father might have killed me. That's why I came to you when I was ten. I had seen you before and my mother had explained me everything I had to do. But it had to be secret. Your father did try to capture me a few times. He let the guards wait until you were inside and they attacked as soon as you were out of sight. I always got away. Burned a few of the guards though.'

'That explains why my father was always asking questions about you. He wanted to know everything and forbade me to see you. Good thing I was never very good at following his rules! But this also explains why you got all those feathers when I tried to make wings all those years ago. You ate all those chickens, didn't you?'

Steve chuckled. 'I did, yes. But I didn't steal them. I got them from the people in the village, close to where I live.'

'I want to go there!' Tony said happily.

'Where?' Steve asked unsure.

'Your house! Your cave, where you live!' Tony said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. 'Steve, I really like you and I wanted to ask you to run away with me, even before I knew you were a dragon. I don't want to get married, and I definitely don't want to go back to a dragon killing jerk. I want to stay with you and fly.'

Steve stopped walking, wrapped his arms around Tony, and hugged him tightly. Tony was surprised, but gladly returned the hug.

'Thank you,' Steve said as he let go again. 'Thank you for trusting me. For not being scared of me, and for not killing me.'

Tony chuckled. 'You're my only friend and you grew up to be a really good looking human being and a super sexy dragon. Like I could ever kill you! I'll protect you from the asshole that is my father.'

Tony pressed a short kiss on Steve's lips. Now it was Steve's turn to look surprised, but then he smiled and kissed Tony back..

'Then I'll promise to protect you from everything else. You can stay with me until it's your turn to rule the country. Now hop on!'

The bright light hid Steve from sight again and seconds later the dragon stood in his place. He bent down and Tony climbed on the long neck, his butt resting on Steve's shoulders. He wrapped his arms around the neck and held on tightly.

'Okay, I'm ready,' he said eagerly.

Steve's big wings spread widely. He moved them a little, like trying them out, before he jumped up and flapped his wings to lift them up in the air. He climbed higher and higher and Tony looked down to see how everything got smaller and smaller. Then he noticed something else: his father's army was climbing the hill. They had been on their way to get Tony, to kill Steve. The moment they saw the dragon they prepared their weapons. Tony held on a little tighter.

Seconds later the sounds of canons was in the air. The big dragon easily dodged them and let out a loud triumphant roar. He made a circle above the army, breathing fire as a warning, before he made his way to the mountains.

As soon as they were out of range Steve flew slower, so Tony could relax. And Tony did. He took a deep breath and tried to touch the clouds. They were weird, a bit wet, and he could hardly believe he was actually touching them. He loved the feeling of the wind in his hair, the adrenaline rushing through his body. He threw his hands in the air and whooped loudly. All the trouble had been absolutely worth it.


End file.
